Nursing Work-Related Burnout

The Nursing Career and Stress and Work-Related Burnout

Working in the healthcare field can be overwhelming because of the continuous exposure to stressful events such as illnesses and death. Additionally, healthcare workers may suffer from high work demands such as long working hours, healthcare team relationship issues, and shortage of staff. To contribute with tension, these workers may also be exposed to daily unrelated work problems such as lack of personal time, family and financial issues. Many nurses are often exposed to these stressors and consequently are troubled with job dissatisfaction and burnout because of an imbalance between their work environment and personal life. The nursing profession alone can be very demanding and due

During a recent study, one of the candidates referred to work as a “ward without walls,” because of no patient limit number and little to no influence on the number of employees (Burke, 2013). This lack of influence on the number of workers, mainly nurses who are in direct contact with the patients, force them to work extra hours, take work home, and skip lunch breaks. Stressful work environments bring high demands to health care workers and without the appropriate help to achieve control and solve these problems, high demands create an imbalance between the employee’s effort and the rewards of the heath care field. Moreover, depriving nurses rest time throughout a long work day does not allow them to cope with stress, which results in critical declining of function. Michelle Burke states in her study an important point to remember, “supporting both existing and future workforce is pivotal to ensure high-quality autonomous care” (Burke, 2013). This negligence of employers towards employees need adjustment because the healthcare field is in incessant

Furthermore, personal stressors such as age, family and marital issues negatively add to the nurse’s angst. The health care environment is a high demand, high stress professional pathway and employees need to find a balance between their career and their personal lives in order to prevent and manage burnout, which is an adverse outcome from accumulation and exposure to multiple stressors. Fortunately, there are a variety of coping mechanisms that can be utilized by nurses for sufficient recover. The adoption of healthy behaviors and other positive strategies such as maintaining an optimistic mental vision, practice of physical activities, and adequate rest and sleep were shown to support and improve an individual’s health and stress coping skills. These tactics should be daily employed by nurses to diminish stress and reduce risks of